Democrats slam ‘stunning’ silence after University of Virginia candidate’s violent texts surface

Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Virginia, rejected a call for her party’s attorney general candidate, Jay Jones, to withdraw from the race during a debate Thursday evening. She stands among several other Democrats who also declined to do so after text messages surfaced in which Jones fantasized about killing a fellow Republican in 2022.

Jones, a former delegate from Norfolk, Virginia, has faced growing calls – mostly from Republicans – to withdraw from the race for Virginia’s attorney general. But Virginia Democrats and other party leaders across the country have refused to bow to pressure to demand that Jones withdraw.

The Jones texting scandal has become a flashpoint in Virginia elections, especially given that it came at a time of heightened sensitivity to incitement and incitement. Violent political speech After the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the two attempts on the life of President Donald Trump.

Spanberger criticized online as a ‘coward’ for refusing to dump ‘unhinged’ Jay Jones

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., remained silent when Fox News Digital repeatedly asked him whether Jones should withdraw from the race. Warner was also pressed on whether he would demand that Jones bring back A.J $25,000 was donated to his campaign In August, or whether he regretted showing support in light of the controversy surrounding Jones’ violent political rhetoric, he again turned his eyes and remained silent.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., was also not prepared to call on Jones to withdraw from the study. He told Fox News Digital that he remains a supporter of the embattled candidate for attorney general in his state. “I think those statements were not personal, and he apologized — I hope others in public life will sincerely apologize for things,” the 2016 Democratic vice presidential nominee said. “I’ve known Jay Jones for 25 years.”

Several other Democrats outside of Virginia contacted by Fox News Digital similarly withdrew, or declined to respond when asked about the matter. jones controversy, Which revolves around an exchange of text messages between him in 2022 and another lawmaker.

During the text messages, Jones imagined putting “two bullets” in the head of then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert. He also mocked the killing of Gilbert’s children.

“Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot. Gilbert was shot twice in the head,” Jones wrote. In a later script, Jones also wrote, “Spoiler: Put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he’ll take two bullets every time.”

“Jay. Please stop,” the lawmaker who received the tests from Jones said at the time. Jones has since apologized, calling the remarks “embarrassing and shameful” and saying he has personally reached out to Gilbert and his family.

“I’m not really familiar with the situation in Virginia,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said when asked if Jones should withdraw from the study.

“I didn’t think about it,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-I-I.

Meanwhile, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called the texts “horrifying,” but when pressed further on whether Jones should withdraw, Wyden said: “I’ll leave it at that, thank you.”

Sanders and Democratic leaders dodge questions about Virginia candidate who joked about shooting GOP lawmaker

Other Democrats contacted by Fox News, such as Sens. Andy Kim, D-N.J., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., condemned political violence but admitted they did not follow up on the matter regarding Jones.

“I can’t say I did my best to really understand it, but what I will say is that what I saw was absolutely horrific,” Kim said. “I hope that right now, when there is so much concern about political violence, we can say: yes, we need to make sure we hold ourselves to high standards, especially those in elected office.”

Republican responses to the Jones text scandal were starkly different. Speaking with Fox News Digital, Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, described the text messages as “astonishing, especially with the wave of political violence that we have seen.”

“There are a lot of leftists who celebrate political violence,” Cruz continued, adding: “When? Charlie Kirk He was assassinated. We saw leftists, university professors, leftist teachers, politicians and journalists celebrating this heinous crime.”

“And every Democrat in Washington is turning a blind eye,” Cruz added. “In my view, the idea that someone would advocate killing children because they disagree politically with their father is clearly inappropriate for public office, especially Virginia’s top law enforcement official. I wish there was a single Democrat who had the courage to say so publicly.”

Click here to download the FOX NEWS app

“It’s really disgusting to call for the assassination of a competitor, to call for the death of his own children,” Republican Missouri Sen. Eric Schmidt said when asked about the controversy. “I mean, I hope, we can all agree that this is beyond the pale here, and he should step down.” “But what’s amazing is I haven’t heard any Democrats — I hope you’re asking other Democrats this question. I haven’t heard anyone say anything about that, which is very sad.”

During Thursday night’s debate between the Republican and Democratic candidates for governor of Virginia, Republican candidate Winsome Earle-Sears repeatedly pressed her. democratic Opponent Spanberger to call on Jones to step down.

“Jay Jones pleaded for killing Abigail, killing a man, a former speaker, as well as his children who were two and five years old. You have little girls. Does it take pulling the trigger? Is that what he’s going to do?” Earl Sears asked Thursday night. “Please ask him out of the race. Have some courage.”

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo and Charles Kretz contributed to this report.